Ben Oliver

Now
Banner image for Bonnie and Clyde
film

Bonnie and Clyde

This here’s Miss Bonnie Parker. I’m Clyde Barrow. We rob banks.
26 May 2019

The tale of the outlaw has the power to capture the imagination like few others. For thousands of years we have glorified and romanticised certain types of criminals. We tell ourselves it’s wrong, and we keep watching.

Hollywood has capitalised on this over the years by carefully cultivating an image of a screen-safe criminal - charming, intelligent and just. Bonnie and Clyde both embraces this idea and contrasts it with stark violence, taking a knife to the tropes of the genre.

50 years on and the grim juxtaposition of humour, death, romance, evil and justice is still arresting. Beatty and Dunaway are superficially confident and in love, but brilliantly capture a sense of unease underpinning their relationship.

A beautiful new-Hollywood masterpiece that I’m glad I finally caught up with.